“I Can Hear You”
Quick answer: What happened with President Bush's bullhorn speech on September 14, 2001?
After a scripted National Cathedral address on the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, President George W. Bush went to Ground Zero. With no microphone, a White House advance staffer borrowed a Con Edison bullhorn. Standing beside retired firefighter Bob Beckwith, Bush spoke unscripted to exhausted rescue workers. The bullhorn is now in his Dallas library.
There's a gray plastic bullhorn in a glass case in Dallas. On September 14, 2001, it belonged to Con Edison workers on the pile at the World Trade Center, until a young White House advance staffer named Nina Bishop talked them out of it because the President was about to address a few thousand exhausted men and nobody had brought a microphone. That morning, on the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, George W. Bush had read a careful, somber speech at the Washington National Cathedral in front of four former presidents. It was a good speech, and it was for the record. The unscripted words through the borrowed bullhorn were for the people doing the work, and those are the ones remembered. John also follows Bob Beckwith, the retired firefighter beside the President in the famous picture. He went home that night, spent two decades being graciously recognized in airports, and died in 2024 at ninety-one. His scuffed helmet, number 164, is in the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
Why it matters for leaders: Prepared remarks have their place, but people in the hard work remember the leader who simply shows up and speaks to them.
Q: Where are the bullhorn and Bob Beckwith's helmet today?
A: The bullhorn is at the George W. Bush presidential library in Dallas; Beckwith's helmet, number 164, is in the 9/11 Memorial Museum's permanent collection.
Q: How did Congress vote on the use of force that week?
A: The Senate voted 98 to 0 on September 14, 2001; the House followed late that night, 420 to 1.
Read the full essay on Substack → https://heroespath.substack.com/p/i-can-hear-you
By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation